


Visiting Hours

by DearSpencerReid



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 20:33:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13555068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearSpencerReid/pseuds/DearSpencerReid
Summary: Emotions run high as Spencer recives his first visitor in prison. Inspired by 12x16.





	Visiting Hours

The steady hum of an air conditioning unit is the only sound filling the stagnant silence of the prison’s visiting room where you sat. Pulling the sleeves of your sweater down further over your hands in an attempt to subdue the chilled air biting at your skin, you allowed your eyes to scan over the rows of half window tables that filled the dingy yellow-walled room.

Despite working for the BAU for nearly seven years and having visited a multitude of prisons during that span of time, this occasion brought a pit of anxiety growing in your stomach. Most likely due to the fact that this visit was not to interrogate or book a suspect, but rather see your own boyfriend of five years.

The last time you had seen Spencer was after his bail was denied three days ago. The look of dread and apprehension etched onto his face as he was lead out of the courtroom was likely to be burned into your memory for the rest of your life.

The sound of a metal door scraping against concrete flooring stole your attention away from the illegible slips of paper hanging on the back window just to the left where the sound had been emitted. A prison guard appeared in your eyesight, a group of inmates following him into the threshold of the visitor’s room; and within seconds, there he was trailing slowly behind those who preceded him— your Spencer.

His head of disheveled hair scanned the room for familiar faces, seeing as there had been no communication between the two of you prior to this moment, Spencer was left unknowing of who had scheduled a visit with him. But upon locking his tired hazel eyes with your own, relief flooded his previously concerned expression and a grin now placed itself upon his lips. Picking up his pace towards where you sat, you couldn’t help the smile that graced your own lips knowing that he was to be right in front of you in a mere second. Just as he reached the opposite side of the table and you had pushed yourself up from the uncomfortable stool in order to lean in and embrace Spencer, the booming voice of the prison guard cut through the chatter that now occupied the room, “No touching” he demanded while shaking his head.

Reluctantly stepping back from your broken contact, Spencer mirrored your previous position and sat on the stool that faced you.

“Hi” was all his voice allowed him to get out, too overwhelmed by the surprise of being able to see and speak to you in person.

“Hi” you mimicked him with a similar tone of solace. The anxiety you had previously contained began to creep back into your mind once you took note of the dark circles that encompassed his fatigued eyes.

“How are you?” you asked him, cringing upon realizing how inane that question was as the words left your mouth. He’s just spent the past seventy-two hours in a prison, how do you think he’s doing right now? you criticized to yourself.

Spencer takes a moment before answering you with a curt nod, “I’m okay.” A smile ghosts back over his face before he continues, “I had no idea you were coming. I’m really happy to see you.”

Despite the urge in you to ensure that he was genuinely alright, a breathy laugh escaped your lips, “I’m happy to see you too, Spence. Garcia actually tried to fight me on who got to see you first, so I myself wasn’t too sure if I was coming or not.”

Seeing you giggle as you finished your sentence made Spencer chuckle, the closest he had gotten to showing any glimpse of joy since entering the prison.

“I hope you weren’t too rough with her.”

“Never.” you winked.

You could feel Spencer’s profiling eyes take your image in as the conversation died down, his bottom lip slipping between his teeth but his eyes never wandering away from your face.

“What are you thinking about, love?” you pushed, knowing his BAU instincts were still at the forefront of his mind no matter his circumstance.

“You’re tired. More so than you normally are. You haven’t slept much in the past few days.” his voice sounding more melancholy than it had since you arrived.

“Yeah,” you pulled your eyes away from his unwavering stare and shrugged, “I, uh, guess I’ve had more important things on my mind besides sleep.”

Your intentions were never to make Spencer feel guilty, but you also knew that there was no point in lying to him, you were an open book he could recite from memory.

Silence lingered between the two of you for a moment longer. You could feel Spencer grow tenser and noted that he began to gnaw at his bottom lip even more.

“The divorce rate among married couples when one spouse is incarcerated is 80% for one year or more.” Spencer finally broke the silence.

Your eyebrows furrowed. This threw you off guard, not the fact that he knew the statistics of marriage that survive through incarceration, but his belief that this was relevant to your situation.

“Spencer, we’re not even married, I don’t think that applies to us.” was the only response you could fathom up.

“That just makes it easier for you to walk away.” his voice cracked.

In the three days that had past, you remained under the false notion that Spencer was too concerned with his own safety to be focused on anyone but himself, that you never once crossed his mind. But the tears you now saw rising in his eyes were proving otherwise.

Completely disregarding the prison guards previous command, you draped your right hand over the barrier sat between yourself and Spencer, a glimpse to the side of the room ensuring that the guard was too occupied with another inmate to notice your hasty attempt to comfort your boyfriend.

“Spencer, I am not going to leave you. I would never leave you.” you willed your voice to remain steady, knowing that any break would cause Spencer to shatter.

Attempting to take a deep breath, Spencer’s breathing stuttered as he ran his fingers over your own. Feeling your skin against his was a warm welcome that he had so desperately missed.

“That’s all I can think about when I’m alone during the night. How it would be selfish of me to want you to continue to stay despite all of this.” his heart beginning to pour out.

“It’s not selfish if I choose to stay, Spencer. I want to be here for you. There isn’t a single ounce of me that wants to leave you.” you interjected, giving his hand a squeeze to emphasize your sincerity.

Spencer blinked away a fresh wave of tears that threatened to escape as you spoke once more.

“I love you, Spencer Reid. More than anything.”

Before he had to chance to repeat those words back, an all too familiar authoritative voice interrupted him, informing the entire room that visiting hours were now over.

Reluctantly, Spencer released his hand from your grip and stood up from his stool. The inmates who had been sitting further down at your table now began to make their way back towards the front of the room, pushing Spencer along with them in their bustle. Unwilling to leave you without communicating some form of a goodbye, Spencer locked his eyes on yours once he was placed back in his spot of the lineup.

And despite his position across the room from you, you could clearly see him mouth with a sad smile, “I love you, Y/N.”

Memories of him mouthing the exact same words to you from halfway across the office now flooded your mind. It had become a habit of his to do whenever you weren’t in earshot range; whether it be because you caught a glimpse of him while getting coffee in the morning, or if he was in a rush to leave for a case and didn’t have the time to say a proper goodbye. He had done it so much by this point that it was clearly distinguishable, and it brought a pang of agony to your heart knowing that this would be the last time in a while that you would see him repeat it.

Your memories were subdued as you watched the guard reopen the rickety metal door and begin to lead inmates back over the threshold to their pods. With one last turn of his head, a look of calm was settled on Spencer’s face before he disappeared out of the dreary visitor’s room and your line of vision.

The fellow people who had also come to visit their loved ones began to clear out of the room but you couldn’t seem to rise up yourself.

Instead, you sat there a little while longer. Instantly missing the man whom you loved deeply. Soaking up the short-lived visit you had just had with him.

The silence of the room began to ring in your ears, the frigid air nipping at your skin once again, a feeling of being completely and utterly alone all washed over you at once.

Just the same way as Spencer had to be feeling.


End file.
